Old High St. Stephen's, Invernesshttp://www.oldhighststephens.com
Welcome to Old High St Stephen's Church, InvernessFri, 16 Nov 2018 17:17:03 +0000en-GBhourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.9.8https://i2.wp.com/www.oldhighststephens.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/cropped-OHSS-Blue-Cross-jpeg-512.jpg?fit=32%2C32Old High St. Stephen's, Invernesshttp://www.oldhighststephens.com
323239909413Sunday Bulletin 11 November 2018http://www.oldhighststephens.com/2018/11/11/sunday-bulletin-11-november-2018/
http://www.oldhighststephens.com/2018/11/11/sunday-bulletin-11-november-2018/#respondSun, 11 Nov 2018 13:00:12 +0000http://www.oldhighststephens.com/?p=6615WORSHIP THIS WEEK
Sunday 18 November 2018: Proper 28
10:00am Morning Worship at St Stephen’s
11.15am Morning Worship at the Old High
6.30pm Ding Dong Merrily Old High
All-age service at the Old High Church
for the Inverness Christmas Lights Switch-onPASTORAL CARE Peter, or your Elder, should be informed of anyone ill at home or in hospital.DING DONG MERRILY OLD HIGH, our family carol service for the Inverness Christmas Lights Switch On, takes place next Sunday, 18 November at the Old High at 6.30pm. Bring your children and grandchildren to celebrate the true light which comes into the world at Christmas- All Welcome! This is a major community event, which we hope everyone in the congregational will support.Details from Peter.CONGREGATIONAL COMMUNION SERVICE Our Communion Service at St Stephen’s on 25 November at 10am will be a Congregational Service. We will have music from a combined choir (St Stephen’s and Old High) with our Old High organist, Robin Versteeg, playing the organ. All welcome as we worship together at what should be a very special service!CHRISTMAS FAYRE Saturday 24 November,10am to 12 noon, St Stephen’s. Coffee/tea and mincemeat pie/shortbread £3. Donations for Gift Stall, (only new items please) Raffles and Baking will be gratefully received. Anyone able to help on the day and/or setting up on Friday evening will be most appreciated- contact Margaret McAleer.OLD HIGH MUSIC The final event in 2018 will be an organ recital on Saturday 1 December at 12 noon. As in previous years, we decided that it would offer a special moment of preparation for Advent if we invited someone to perform some of the great organ music written for that time in the Christian Year. So Bach-lovers will enjoy listening to Robin Bell, who is the Music Teacher and Organist of another Father Henry Willis instrument at St Leonard’s School, St Andrews. Seasonal refreshments will follow. Andrew StevensonCROSSREACH Prayer diary October 2018 to January 2019, Newsletter, and Christmas catalogue now available at church doors. Rae Swan.OHSS MAGAZINE Willie Morrison urgently requires articles and photos for the December issue. Please submit whatever you can, as early as possible. Deadline- earlier than usual for Christmas season reasons- Friday 30 November.OLD HIGH ST STEPHENS WINTER WALK AND AFTERNOON TEA on 2 December. A short walk, about 30-40 minutes, from Muirtown Locks to Clachnaharry. Cuppa afterwards at the Jammy Piece (JP) cafe at Muirtown Locks. Meet St Stephen’s car park at 2pm for car sharing or at Muirtown Locks beside the JP cafe at 2.15pm, or join us for a cuppa there at 3pm. If the weather is inclement we will still meet for the refreshments. Contact Deborah Macrae or Jennifer Morrison for more details.KIRK SESSION meets this Tuesday 13 November at 7.30pm at the Old High Hall.PIANO RECITAL OLD HIGH CHURCH Saturday 17 November, 2.30pm. Local piano teacher Ian McTeer will perform favourite piano repertoire including Beethoven’s ‘Moonlight Sonata’, a Bach Toccata and Fugue, ‘Claire de Lune’ by Debussy, Rachmaninov Elegy and Preludes, and conclude with Liszt. Tickets £7 at the door. Contact Andrew StevensonSUNDAY BULLETIN Please send items for this sheet to our Church Administrator: Mrs Pat MacLeod (079 342 85924) invernesschurch<at>gmail.com. Deadline Wednesday at 12 noon. Please keep items as brief as possible, and include contact details and/or e-mail.OTHER NEWSHEALING SERVICE Christian Fellowship of Healing (Highlands) will hold a healing service at St Stephen’s today at 4pm: all welcome. Contact David Martin.COMMEMORATION OF THE CENTENARY OF THE END OF WW1 at Inverness Cathedral today from 5pm (to be seated by 4.45pm). The event will contain sung, read and performed pieces related to WW1 from a wide variety of people across our Community, including the Air, Army and Sea Cadets, Bishop’s Eden Primary School and Inverness High School, The Black Watch and The British Legion, Military Wives Choir, and UHI. Musicians, Katy Bell, Julie Keen, Gordon Tocher, Ness Sinfonia, Inverness Handbell Ringers, and Musik Fyne. Followed by Refreshments in the Cathedral Café until the nationwide ringing of bells at 7.10pm. Proceeds to local branches of SSAFA and The Armed Forces Charity.AT THE HEART.ON THE EDGE at Ness Bank Church on Tuesday 13 November 10 am to 3.30 pm. Hosted by Rev Fiona Smith, Minister of Ness Bank Parish Church, and Rev Dr Sam Wells, Vicar of St Martin-in-the- Fields. Programme has been developed jointly by Ness Bank Church and St Martin’s. HeartEdge is a growing ecumenical network of churches and other organisations working across the UK and overseas, initiated by St Martin-in-the-Fields. It aims to catalyse Kingdom Communities, both for those working at the heart of commerce, culture and community, and those on the edge. Topics for the day include: liturgy and worship for day-to-day communal life; starting and sustaining distinctive enterprise to generate finance for your church; addressing social need locally; using art, music and performance to reimagine the Christian story. More at https://www.stmartin-in-the-fields.org/life-st-martins/mission/heartedge/. Please register to attend at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/at-the-heart-on-the-edge-tickets-48122091471?aff=eac2, or contact our Minister, Peter.INVERNESS STREET PASTORS COMMISSIONING SERVICE on Friday 16 November, 7pm at the Junction Church, Bank Street, Inverness. Contact Robyn Teago.BIG QUIZ NIGHT IN AID OF TEARFUND at 7.15pm at The Barn Church on Saturday 17 November hosted jointly by Inverness 18-30’s and Culduthel Christian Centre 20-30’s. Doors open at 7:15pm and the quiz will start at 7:30pm. This is open to everyone between 18-30, give or take a few years either side. For more info, contact Claire.INVITATION TO DORES PARISH CHURCH 190TH ANNIVERSARY SERVICE on Sunday 25 November at 3pm to be taken by our Interim Moderator, Rev Scott McRoberts. Come and share with us as we thank God for his provisions and also share a cup of tea or coffee and the history of this beautiful building and Church. Looking forward to welcome you all.
]]>http://www.oldhighststephens.com/2018/11/11/sunday-bulletin-11-november-2018/feed/06615What do we do with our remembrance? Sermon for Remembrance Sunday 2018http://www.oldhighststephens.com/2018/11/11/what-do-we-do-with-our-remembrance-sermon-for-remembrance-sunday-2018/
http://www.oldhighststephens.com/2018/11/11/what-do-we-do-with-our-remembrance-sermon-for-remembrance-sunday-2018/#respondSun, 11 Nov 2018 11:00:06 +0000http://www.oldhighststephens.com/?p=6622Scripture Readings: Micah 4.1-5

Our church buildings, like many church buildings, are full of memorials. There are the obvious ones: the lists of names from both world wars inside St Stephen’s, the congregational memorial on the outside wall of the Old High Church; the Camerons memorial area inside the Old High. We have memorials to memorial to ministers, organists, town worthies, and congregation members in both our buildings. There is stained glass in the chancel of St Stephen’s gifted by a Royal Artillery officer; and at the Old High, another stained glass memorial from a mother to her child. There are number of individual memorials at the Old High, ranging to a memorial to a General Wimberley, who led the 51st Division at Alamein, to the mention on his family memorial of Ensign James Grant who died at the Battle of Waterloo, aged only 15.

Memorials are found across our country, not just in churches, but in parks and gardens and in many other public buildings. The simplest memorials are best; and sometimes they make us come up short. Inverness Royal Academy has a war memorial, now in its third building, which contains a numbingly long list of names. You wonder what it must have meant for a school to have so many of its recent pupils- and some of the staff as well, no doubt- die in such a way in such a short period of time.

Like many memorials, the Royal Academy’s memorial dates from after the Armistice. Once, I came across once such stone war memorial in Argyllshire. It was at a crossroads, in the middle of a rather scattered collection of farms and cottages which hardly deserved the name of a village. But this was the parish war memorial for this particular Highland glen. And on three sides of this simple stone pillar were carved the names of the young men who had died- most of them, of course, between 1914 and 1918. Many of them had the same surname- brothers and cousins. I looked around at the few scattered houses in that glen, and wondered at how it must have affected that place to lose so many young men in the prime of life.[1]

The twentieth century brought war and devastation on a scale never seen before. No wonder we have so many memorials, and ways of remembrance. We all need to remember. But I wonder what we do with our remembrance? Do we just remember, and nothing comes of it?

Zechariah remembered. Old Zechariah remembered what God had done in the past. He remembered the prophets- people like Micah who assured the people that God would send a saviour for his people. He remember the covenant with Abraham, in which God promised to be with Israel, and Israel promised to serve the one true God. But Zechariah didn’t just remember. Zechariah had a son, and this son was Zechariah’s hope for the future. This son, John, was the latest prophet, the last prophet, for he would announce the coming of the one for whom the prophets of old had waited:

“You, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High God.
You will go ahead of the Lord to prepare his road for him,
to tell his people that they will be saved
by having their sins forgiven.
Our God is merciful and tender.
He will cause the bright dawn of salvation to rise on us
and to shine from heaven on all those who live
in the dark shadow of death,
to guide our steps into the path of peace.”

Luke 1.76-79

Zechariah was a priest of Israel. He knew his tradition, he could remember the story of God’s dealings with Israel- a story of struggle, a story which was very often dark and painful. But he also knew that God meant to guide his people’s steps into the path of peace.

It’s not that we are simply to remember. It’s what we do with our remembrance. In the run up to the vote on the Iraq war a few years ago, the Labour party’s chief whip in the House of Commons in Tony Blair’s government was reported as having told a one of his MPs that ‘war was not a matter of conscience’. Afterwards, a magazine columnist commented that previous party whips would have said that. This brought a letter from someone who had once been an advisor to a former Labour Party chief whip, John Silkin MP. Part of the letter read:

During the Second World War in the Pacific, Silkin, then a naval officer, looked into the eyes of a kamikaze pilot heading straight for his ship. Then the plane hit. Silkin lived; the body of the sailor who had been standing talking next to him was severed… John Silkin would never had said war was not a matter of conscience.[2]

Today is a day when we should pause and remember something of the horror of war, and have a long, hard think about how we minimise the possibility of war anywhere in the world. We can remember, too, places like Yemen, where people are going through unimaginable suffering right now. And we can be remembering those among us who still bear the physical and mental scars of war: former military personnel, or civilians, for whom the memory of war is still raw, whether it was just a few years ago, or decades ago. And for Christians, this can be a time to commit to living as peaceably, and remembering all who die when we do resort to war and violence.

Peace is not simply the absence of war. Peace is only real if it is accompanied with justice. And the rich and powerful nations of the world have a special responsibility in this regard. For without us being prepared to meet the issues which cause people to go in for extremism and terrorism, there can be not lasting peace. And even with the best military technology, you cannot keep the peace by force alone. You can have the biggest army, the best military technology, and the most dedicated military personnel, and yet still fall victim to terrorism- as happened to America in 2001, when the conflicts in the Middle East suddenly spilled over into Washington DC and New York. Alongside military measures, there are non-military measures which are the just as important- things like improved airport security, blocking terrorists’ bank accounts, or the secret work by intelligence services which we rarely hear about. Keeping the population safe is an unending struggle for our government nowadays.

What is really needed, however, is that we need to live, as a nation and as individuals, so that we do not create enemies. It’s usually poverty and despair that causes violence and war. So in order to prevent conflict, we need to tackle poverty. So we need to encourage education, fair trade, good working conditions. We need to tackle the multinationals who don’t pay taxes which could pay for schools and road and a police force. A few years ago the Pentagon identified global warming as a major source of conflict in the world- tensions are rising as deserts expand and sea levels rise. So even taking care of our planet is part of peacekeeping.

Christianity is, above all, a faith of peace- that is clear to anyone who reads the Gospels carefully, and takes seriously the words of Jesus. We can never allow Jesus Christ to be the reason for war and violence. If we are going to war, it must be a war against poverty, against injustice. The tools of that war will not be spears, but ploughshares. Our calling as Christians today is a call to be peacemakers- and Jesus Christ called the peacemakers blessed, as you know. So for Christians, there is an imperative to work for peace by working for justice. That means replacing enmity with dialogue- for example dialogue with those of different faiths. And it means supporting efforts at achieving economic justice for the poor, and peaceful settlements in those places where violence and war are endemic.

Meantime, what do we do with our remembrance, and with our memorials? Do we just look back on the past? Or do we despair of the present? No- not if we are people of faith. Because from faith should always come hope. Can we can share the hopes of Micah and Zechariah? Dare we hope for an age to come when people will hammer their swords into ploughs, their spears into pruning-knives? Dare we allow God to guide our feet into the paths of peace? Dare we do our bit to make the prophet’s dream a reality, to work for peace, for justice, for a better world?

For it is not enough just to remember. We have to do something with our remembrance. We need to remember with hope. Remembering is, to some extent, about looking back. We ought to look back- but that’s not enough. We should look back in order to learn from history. As we look back, let us remember, but also let us hope for the day there will be on more Martinpuichs and Sommes and Jutlands. More than ever, our world needs people with hopes for the future, people who will heed Jesus’ call to be peacemakers.

The prophet Micah saw a day ahead when

‘Everyone will live in peace among their own vineyards and fig trees, and no one will make them afraid. The Lord Almighty has promised this’.

Today they regularly bulldoze ancient fig trees and olive groves to build Israel’s security barrier, or to take away cover for those attacking the West Bank settlements. And yet Micah’s vision is a lovely vision, a vision worth pursuing. It is also a vision which sometimes becomes a reality- if we work at it.

In 1745, the Old High Church was used to house prisoners of war. They shot some of them out in the graveyard- that would probably be described as a war crime nowadays. It was a terrible civil war, which ended with a vicious battle just a few miles from here. And yet, somehow we got over it, and on this island of ours, people mostly live at peace with one another. Once, places like on the Somme like Martinpuich were the scene of terrible slaughter. Today, there are still memorials to mark the spots where the slaughter happened. You can still visit the remains of what was once the most heavily fortified border in the world- the fortress of Verdun, the Maginot line. But the French countryside, where the Western Front once lay, is peaceful now. So many of the issues which led to war in 1914 have, at last, been put to rest- they are no longer important. Peace and reconciliation are possible.

Just the other week, I visited a former military installation, which is now preserved as a memorial to the Cold War. We forget that people did actually die in the Cold War, even in Europe. Point Alpha was an American base from which they patrolled the very border of the Cold War, on the fortified frontier between East and West Germany. The attached museum reminds us of the many people who were killed trying to get over that border as they tried the Communist dictatorship.

There were a number of video installations where you could hear the stories of local people who lived on that Cold War border. One was a Catholic church pastoral worker, who was surprised to find himself in charge of the protests against the Communists in his East German village in 1989. He explained that although they were secular protests, the meetings arranging the protests often took place in church buildings, and that the demonstrations followed on from prayers for peace in the churches. These were peaceful demonstrations, in which many people carried candles- a symbol with Christian roots, reminding us of what the Gospel of John says of Christ:

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.[3]

On one occasion, the pastoral worker explained, some of the younger people wanted to go to the homes and offices of Communist officials and throw rocks at them. But, he said, the hotheads discovered that if you are carrying a candle, trying to keep it steady, and trying to stop if being blown out, you can’t throw rocks. I could not listen to that man’s memories without thinking of the words of Jesus we heard in our worship last Sunday:

‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God’.[4]

For every follower of Jesus Christ is called to be a peacemaker. That will mean different things for different people at different times. But we are surely all called to be people who light candles instead of throwing rocks.

Ascription of Praise

Blessing and glory
and wisdom and thanksgiving
and honour and power and might
be to our God forever and ever! Amen.

]]>http://www.oldhighststephens.com/2018/11/11/what-do-we-do-with-our-remembrance-sermon-for-remembrance-sunday-2018/feed/06622Sunday Bulletin 4 November 2018http://www.oldhighststephens.com/2018/11/04/sunday-bulletin-4-november-2018/
http://www.oldhighststephens.com/2018/11/04/sunday-bulletin-4-november-2018/#respondSun, 04 Nov 2018 13:21:59 +0000http://www.oldhighststephens.com/?p=6597WORSHIP THIS WEEK
Sunday 11 November 2018: Remembrance Sunday
10:00am Morning Worship at St Stephen’s
11.15am Morning Worship at the Old High
10.55am 2-Minute Silence outside Old HighREMEMBRANCE AND ARMISTICE Everyone is invited to ‘Return to Light: Highland Civic Service at the Old High, marking the Centenary of the Armistice’ at 3.30pm on Saturday 10 November. The candle which has been at Inverness Cathedral since the anniversary of the start of the First World War will return to the Old High. Everyone taking part in the service may, if they wish, join in the Return to Light Parade, which will leave from the Cathedral at 3pm. This ecumenical service will have representatives of communities throughout the Highland Council area. Refreshments in the Old High Hall afterwards. The following day, Remembrance Sunday, our service times will be as usual. Those who wish to join in the nationwide 11am silence may do so at a short ceremony led by the Rev Alastair Younger at the First World War memorial outside the Old High Church, which will begin at 10.55am.PASTORAL CARE Peter, or your Elder, should be informed of anyone ill at home or in hospital.SOUTHSIDE NURSING HOME There will be a short service led by Jim Alexander at Southside Nursing Home immediately after this morning’s service at St Stephen’s. If you are able to assist with the singing, or chatting to the residents, this would be much appreciated. Please speak to Jim after the service. We still also seek members willing to lead these services on a rota basis. Please contact Janet Robertson.SUNDAY EVENING DISCUSSION GROUP at St Stephen’s at 7pm this evening, when we shall discuss chapters 5 and 6 of Philip Yancey’s thought-provoking book ‘Vanishing Grace’. More details from Andrew Stevenson.OLD HIGH CHURCH OPENING Thursday 1 and Friday 2 November 10am-12 10am-12 noon and 2-4pm. The Church will also be open at these times on 7-9 November, when visitors can view the Queens’ Own Cameron Highlanders Memorial area, and also see a display illustrating life in Inverness during World War 1. Further information from Sheila MacLeod.CRAFT EVENING St Stephen’s Hall 7.30–9pm, Wednesday 7 November. Crafters and non-crafters welcome (you may wish to learn a craft). Friendly atmosphere and refreshments provided. Margaret McAleer.BLYTHSWOOD BOXES This is the 25th year of the Blythswood Appeal. Why not bring some happiness to someone in need this Christmas? Fill a shoe box with simple gifts and it will bring untold joy to someone who never gets a present. Leaflets with all the necessary instructions at the Church doors. Bring your box back to Church or deliver it to Blythswood Care. Details: Jaye RankinePIANO RECITAL OLD HIGH CHURCH Saturday 17 November, 2.30pm. Local piano teacher Ian McTeer will perform favourite piano repertoire including Beethoven’s ‘Moonlight Sonata’, a Bach Toccata and Fugue, ‘Claire de Lune’ by Debussy, Rachmaninov Elegy and Preludes, and conclude with Liszt. Tickets £7 at the door. Contact Andrew Stevenson.CHRISTMAS FAYRE Saturday 24 November,10am to 12 noon, St Stephen’s. Coffee/tea and mincemeat pie/shortbread £3. Donations for Gift Stall, (only new items please) Raffles and Baking will be gratefully received. Anyone able to help on the day and/or setting up on Friday evening will be most appreciated- contact Margaret McAleer.CROSSREACH Prayer diary October 2018 to January 2019, Newsletter, and Christmas catalogue now available at church doors. Rae Swan.OHSS MAGAZINE Willie Morrison urgently requires articles and photos for the December issue. Please submit whatever you can, as early as possible, by e-mail.OLD HIGH ST STEPHENS WINTER WALK AND AFTERNOON TEA on 2 December. A short walk, about 30-40 minutes, from Muirtown Locks to Clachnaharry. Cuppa afterwards at the Jammy Piece (JP) cafe at Muirtown Locks. Meet St Stephen’s car park at 2pm for car sharing or at Muirtown Locks beside the JP cafe at 2.15pm, or join us for a cuppa there at 3pm. If the weather is inclement we will still meet for the refreshments. Contact Deborah Macrae or Jennifer Morrison for more details.SUNDAY BULLETIN Please send items for this sheet to our Church Administrator: Mrs Pat MacLeod (079 342 85924) invernesschurch@gmail.com. Deadline Wednesday at 12 noon. Please keep items as brief as possible, and include contact details and/or e-mail.OTHER NEWSAT THE HEART.ON THE EDGE at Ness Bank Church on Tuesday 13 November 10 am to 3.30 pm. Hosted by Rev Fiona Smith, Minister of Ness Bank Parish Church, and Rev Dr Sam Wells, Vicar of St Martin-in-the- Fields. Programme has been developed jointly by Ness Bank Church and St Martin’s. HeartEdge is a growing ecumenical network of churches and other organisations working across the UK and overseas, initiated by St Martin-in-the-Fields. It aims to catalyse Kingdom Communities, both for those working at the heart of commerce, culture and community, and those on the edge. Topics for the day include: liturgy and worship for day-to-day communal life; starting and sustaining distinctive enterprise to generate finance for your church; addressing social need locally; using art, music and performance to reimagine the Christian story. More at https://www.stmartin-in-the-fields.org/life-st-martins/mission/heartedge/. Please register to attend at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/at-the-heart-on-the-edge-tickets-48122091471?aff=eac2, or contact our Minister, Peter.INVERNESS STREET PASTORS COMMISSIONING SERVICE on Friday 16 November, 7pm at the Junction Church, Bank Street, Inverness. Contact Robyn Teago.HEALING SERVICE Christian Fellowship of Healing (Highlands) will hold a healing service at St Stephen’s next Sunday 11 November at 4pm: all welcome. Contact David Martin.
]]>http://www.oldhighststephens.com/2018/11/04/sunday-bulletin-4-november-2018/feed/06597Never Forgotten: Sermon for All Saints Sunday, 4 November 2018http://www.oldhighststephens.com/2018/11/04/never-forgotten-sermon-for-all-saints-sunday-4-november-2018/
http://www.oldhighststephens.com/2018/11/04/never-forgotten-sermon-for-all-saints-sunday-4-november-2018/#respondSun, 04 Nov 2018 11:30:10 +0000http://www.oldhighststephens.com/?p=6589Scripture Readings: 1 John 3:1-3

Matthew 5:1-12

Never forgotten

In the name of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen.

Some years ago I did a primary school assembly on Hallowe’en, and since they’d just had a Hallowe’en disco during the week and I knew it would be on their minds, I thought I may as well talk about it. When I asked them if they would be going out on Hallowe’en, it turned out that the vast majority were planning to- even if nowadays they refer it is as ‘trick or treating’, instead of guising and they lamps of pumpkins rather than turnips. Hallowe’en has changed since I was a lad- too commercialised for me now. But for most children, it’s still a lot of fun, probably because dressing up is such fun.

The custom of dressing up in scary costumes for Hallowe’en- ‘guising’, to use the good old Scots word- goes back to the old pagan beliefs about keeping evil spirits out of our way. Indeed, perhaps some of the traditions of Hallowe’en predate Christian influence on our culture. Some boring Christians are killjoys who want to abolish Hallowe’en, but for most children it brings harmless enjoyment. What child doesn’t enjoy dressing up, and being given sweets just for telling a few bad jokes?

When I spoke to the school assembly, I reminded them, as I always do when speaking to children about these things, that there is, of course, no such thing as ghosts. We might enjoy a wee scare sometimes, but there is nothing supernatural for us to be frightened of. I say this with great confidence, for one of my favourite passages of scripture- it was the sermon text at my confirmation- comes from Paul’s Letter to the Romans, where he writes,

In other words, there is nothing we need to be afraid of. There are no ghosts and ghouls which can hurt us. When it comes to the supernatural, we have, as someone said in another context, nothing to fear but fear itself.

I suspect that many people mark Hallowe’en nowadays without knowing where the word comes from. But no doubt you all know that Hallowe’en is, of course, All Hallow’s Eve, the day before All Saints Day. All Saints is the date when, in many parts of the Christian church, Christians remembered those who had gone before us, and who are now in God’s presence.

Both Hallowe’en and All Saints are, in different ways, about the dead. Hallowe’en reminds us of an age when people believed that the spirits of the dead could come back to haunt us. The costumes at Hallowe’en- the dis-guises- are an attempt to ward off malevolent spirits. At Hallowe’en, death is associated with fear, the supernatural, and darkness.

But the Christian conception of death is quite different from the pagan conception. We believe that God loves us- even into eternity. Nothing- not even death nor life- cannot separate us from God’s love. Our first scripture reading today urges us to,

See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God.

In God’s love, we are as secure as children of our loving creator God.

So perhaps that’s why Jesus speaks, in the sermon on the mount, of even those who mourn being blessed.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

he says. Jesus is not saying that we should never mourn. Of course we do. Mourning is often to do with change, for there is often loss in change. Losing a loved one is a great change in anyone’s life, or losing your job, or moving out of a house which has been a beloved home for many years- all these are changes, and we mourn what has now passed.

Even if a change seems positive- for example, retirement- still we will often feel a loss- no more job to go to every day, we will miss seeing our colleagues every day. Parents might be delighted that their child gets into university, but the day of leaving home is tinged with sadness. For many of us, even changes within the life of the church make us mourn. It’s hard to have change without loss, and we have to mourn the loss.

And death, of course, is the greatest change of all, and the source of our deepest mourning. For the loss of someone close to us can leave us in deep despair, at least for a time. And yet, in the sermon on the mount, Jesus says that those who mourn are blessed, and will be comforted. Blessed by God, and comforted by God.

One of the leading causes of death in our society nowadays is dementia. There are few of us here, I suspect, whose lives have not been touched by this terrible disease. Those who watch a family member suffer from dementia often suffer go through a strange kind of loss and mourning. The loss of memory in the patient is often experienced as a kind of loss of personality by those closest to her. Families and friends have to watch a loss of memory, a loss of awareness, and experience their loved one seem to disappear down a long tunnel, until, even although they are physically there, they are no longer present psychologically. It’s a state which can continue for months or even years, so that when a dementia patients dies, there is often a feeling among families and friends that they lost her long ago, and that long before the funeral they had already been mourning her.

And yet, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says that, even in these terrible circumstances, God blesses us as we mourn, God bring us comfort. For Christian people, some of that comfort comes from knowing that there is a God, and that the God who created us in love never lets us go. Neither death nor life can separate us from the love of God who calls us his children.

We forget- most dramatically if our brain is affected by Alzheimer’s or some other disease which takes away our memory. But even healthy people forget. As time goes on, we don’t remember the details of everything we did, every experience we had- our brains would burst otherwise! It’s hard, however, when we forget the wrong things- a face we ought to have recognised, an important birthday, the knowledge we need for an exam- or, as I did recently, leaving my bag in a cafe (I was sure I’d picked it up!). We have a limited capacity for remembering- it’s natural for us to forget.

God, however, is not limited in any way. God, I am sure, remembers all his children. Not just during their life on planet earth, but also when they leave this mortal life. Once or twice I have had to do funeral services for people so lonely, nobody or hardly anybody turned up for their funeral. Perhaps one or two family members, if we were lucky, who hadn’t seen him for years. I had a name, but I didn’t at all know who he was. But in those circumstances, my faith tells me that God knew this person. I might not have known their story, but God did.

It was, I believe, Rudyard Kipling who composed the inscription which was carved on thousands of gravestones after the Great War, the victims who could not be identified: ‘Known unto God’. We might not know their names, but God does.

And if God cares for us, remembers us, during this life, then surely God does not forget us when we leave this life? Maybe that’s another way of thinking about what life after death might mean. We may pass from the face of the earth, eventually even passing from the memories of those whom we have known, but in the mind of our eternal God, we are always present.

Our contemporary culture has a great unease about death- it’s become a taboo subject. Could it be the reason for that is that people have forgotten the great promises of the Gospel of the resurrection?

said Jesus to his disciples, just before he faced his own death. That promise has helped millions of his followers to understand death, not as an end, but as another change in our journey. Death for Christians is not the end- it is the beginning of something new.

All Saints Day is one of those days which Protestant Christians in this country often ignore. Perhaps we worry about celebrating saints, and forgetting to worship God. But I think All Saints is really about God. Yes, we can use this day to we can remember, and celebrate the saints who came before us. But we do so best by thanking God for them. And if there is an afterlife, it’s God we have to thank for that as well- because all these saints are held in life by God’s memory, even when they pass from our sight.

Hallowe’en reminds us of old pagan fears of death, and the dead- things to be feared, things to avoid, things to give you the creeps. But if we believe that we are children of God, if we believe that we are each of us loved by God, and if we believe that God’s love for us is not defeated by death, then we can say, with St Paul,

And so All Saints Sunday becomes a celebration of life- our life now, but also the continuing life of the saints in God’s presence, and our own hope of eternal life because we are God’s children.

It’s sometimes thought that those who believe in a life hereafter are not very interested in this life. But if we truly believe that death can’t defeat God’s love, then there is comfort for us, and the strength to pass through our mourning and to continue with our life with even more vigour. And if we believe that God cares for all people, even those forgotten by other people, then we will be motivated, surely to care for and love others. And even if we find ourselves having to care for someone who has forgotten who we are, and even forgotten who they are themselves, we can blessed and comforted by the knowledge that God has not forgotten them- or us.

See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God.

says the letter of John. It’s through Jesus and his resurrection that we have been made children of God; it’s all because of God’s love. And John goes on to say,

we are God’s children now; [yet] what we will be has not yet been revealed.

There is a promise of even greater things in store for us. Today, we give thanks for the saints who loved others because they were loved by God- and we look forward to a future better than we can even conceive of. Death, loss and mourning are never easy; but Christ helps us make sense of them. So we can give thanks to God, not just for the past, but for the future- a future which we cannot know, but in which we will all still be known by our loving creator God.

Ascription of Praise

Blessing and glory
and wisdom and thanksgiving
and honour and power and might
be to our God forever and ever! Amen.

]]>http://www.oldhighststephens.com/2018/11/04/never-forgotten-sermon-for-all-saints-sunday-4-november-2018/feed/06589Return to Light: Highland Civic Service marking the Centenary of the Armistice Old High Churchhttp://www.oldhighststephens.com/2018/11/02/return-to-light-highland-civic-service-marking-the-centenary-of-the-armistice-old-high-church/
http://www.oldhighststephens.com/2018/11/02/return-to-light-highland-civic-service-marking-the-centenary-of-the-armistice-old-high-church/#respondFri, 02 Nov 2018 10:48:07 +0000http://www.oldhighststephens.com/?p=6584

We will be hosting “Return to Light”, a Highland civic service marking the Centenary of the Armistice, which ended the First World War. Everyone is invited to join us at the Old High Church on Saturday 10 November at 3.30pm.

A memorial candle, which was lit at the Old High in 2014 and has been burning since in Inverness Cathedral, will be will be taken in procession from Inverness Cathedral and returned to the Old High Church to mark the end of the hostilities of the First World War. The processions leaves the Cathedral at 3pm, for the Old High service at 3.30pm.

Members of the public are invited to come and view or follow the parade and/or to attend the Old High Church service.

The Saturday afternoon prior to Armistice Day was chosen for this event so that anyone can attend both the Highland-wide commemoration and their local remembrance services the following day. More information on the Highland Council website.

You are also most welcome to join us for our Remembrance Sunday services on 11 November- 10am and St Stephen’s and 11.15 at the Old High Church.

Also, the Old High Church will be open on 7, 8 and 9 November from 10am-12 noon and from 2-4pm. During these three days visitors can view the Queens’ Own Cameron Highlanders Memorial area within the church, and also see a display illustrating life in Inverness during World War 1.

]]>http://www.oldhighststephens.com/2018/10/28/november-2018-month-of-sundays/feed/06572Sunday Bulletin 28 October 2018http://www.oldhighststephens.com/2018/10/28/sunday-bulletin-28-october-2018/
http://www.oldhighststephens.com/2018/10/28/sunday-bulletin-28-october-2018/#respondSun, 28 Oct 2018 13:00:09 +0000http://www.oldhighststephens.com/?p=6568WORSHIP THIS WEEK
Sunday 4 November 2018: All Saints Sunday
10:00am Morning Worship at St Stephen’s
11.15 am Morning Worship at the Old HighTHE SACRAMENT OF HOLY COMMUNION will be celebrated at the Old High today. All are welcome at the Lord’s Table.THE MINISTER WILL BE ON HOLIDAY from 18 to 30 October inclusive. For any pastoral matters, please contact your elder, or Rev Andrew Lyon.CAMERON HOUSE A short Service will be held in Cameron House today at 3pm. These Services take place on the fourth Sunday of the month and are conducted by Rev Alastair Younger). Members of Old High St Stephen’s who would like to come to help with singing would be welcome. Alastair Younger.SUNDAY EVENING DISCUSSION GROUP will meet in St Stephen’s vestry at 7pm on 4 November. On the next occasion we shall discuss chapters 5 and 6 of Philip Yancey’s thought-provoking book ‘Vanishing Grace’. More details from Andrew Stevenson.OLD HIGH CHURCH OPENING During the month of October the Church will be open at the following times: Thursdays 10.00-12.00; Fridays 10.00-12.00 and 2-4pm. New Volunteers are always welcome: contact Sheila MacLeod.OLD HIGH MUSIC Saturday 3 November at 12 noon. Katy Bell studied Cello in London and the US and is now a freelance orchestral and chamber musician based in Inverness. Alice Durrant studied Double Bass in London and Sydney and now plays with the BBC Philharmonic in Manchester. This is a special opportunity to hear these instruments as a Duo, performed by friends who have known each other since early childhood. Details from Andrew Stevenson.BLYTHSWOOD BOXES This is the 25th year of the Blythswood Shoe Box Appeal. Why not bring some happiness to someone in need this Christmas. Fill a shoe box with simple gifts and it will bring untold joy to someone who never gets a present. Leaflets are available, with all the necessary instructions at the Church door. Bring your box back to Church or deliver it to Blythswood Care. Further information from Jaye Rankine.CROSSREACH Prayer diary October 2018 to January 2019, Newsletter, and Christmas catalogue now available at church doors. Rae Swan.OHSS MAGAZINE Willie Morrison urgently requires articles and photos for the December issue. Please submit whatever you can, as early as possible. The deadline– earlier than usual for Christmas season reasons- is Friday 30 November. Contact Willie Morrison.SUNDAY BULLETIN Please send items for this sheet to our Church Administrator: Mrs Pat MacLeod (079 342 85924) invernesschurch<at>gmail.com. Deadline Wednesday at 12 noon. Please keep items as brief as possible, and include contact details and/or e-mail.OLD HIGH ACCESS The Clansman will be closed from 13 to 29 October. If anyone needs access to the church during this period please contact Christine MacKenzie.REMEMBRANCE AND ARMISTICE Everyone is invited to ‘Return to Light: Highland Civic Service marking the Centenary of the Armistice’ at 3.30pm on Saturday 10 November. The candle which has been at Inverness Cathedral since the anniversary of the start of the First World War will be returning to the Cathedral. Everyone taking part in the service may, if they so wish, join in the Return to Light Parade, which will leave from the Cathedral at 3pm. This ecumenical service will have representatives of communities throughout the Highland Council area. Refreshments in the Old High Hall afterwards. The following day, Remembrance Sunday, our service times will be as usual. Those who wish to join in the nationwide 11am silence may do so at a short ceremony led by the Rev Alastair Younger at the First World War memorial outside the Old High Church.OTHER NEWSAT THE HEART. ON THE EDGE at Ness Bank Church on Tuesday 13 November 10 am to 3.30 pm. Hosted by Rev Fiona Smith, Minister of Ness Bank Parish Church, and Rev Dr Sam Wells, Vicar of St Martin-in-the- Fields. Programme has been developed jointly by Ness Bank Church and St Martin’s. HeartEdge is a growing ecumenical network of churches and other organisations working across the UK and overseas, initiated by St Martin-in-the-Fields. It aims to catalyse Kingdom Communities, both for those working at the heart of commerce, culture and community, and those on the edge. Topics for the day include: liturgy and worship for day-to-day communal life; starting and sustaining distinctive enterprise to generate finance for your church; addressing social need locally; using art, music and performance to reimagine the Christian story. More at https://www.stmartin-in-the-fields.org/life-st-martins/mission/heartedge/. Please register to attend at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/at-the-heart-on-the-edge-tickets-48122091471?aff=eac2, or contact our Minister, Peter.
]]>http://www.oldhighststephens.com/2018/10/28/sunday-bulletin-28-october-2018/feed/06568Sunday Bulletin 21 October 2018http://www.oldhighststephens.com/2018/10/23/sunday-bulletin-21-october-2018/
http://www.oldhighststephens.com/2018/10/23/sunday-bulletin-21-october-2018/#respondTue, 23 Oct 2018 14:03:24 +0000http://www.oldhighststephens.com/?p=6560WORSHIP THIS WEEK
Sunday 28 October 2018 Proper 25
10:00am Morning Worship at St Stephen’s
Led by Vivian Roden, Reader
11.15 am Sacrament of Holy Communion at the Old High
Led by Rev Alastair YoungerTHE MINISTER WILL BE ON HOLIDAY from 18 to 30 October inclusive. For any pastoral matters, please contact your elder, or Rev Andrew Lyon.SUNDAY EVENING DISCUSSION GROUP will meet in St Stephen’s vestry at 7pm this evening and 4 November. On the next occasion we shall discuss chapters 5 and 6 of Philip Yancey’s thought-provoking book ‘Vanishing Grace’. More details from Andrew Stevenson.CRAFT EVENING St Stephen’s Hall 7.30–9pm, Wednesday 24 October. Crafters and non-crafters welcome (you may wish to learn a craft). Friendly atmosphere and refreshments provided. Margaret McAleer.MEET & EAT There will be a gathering for Lunch on Thursday 25 October at 12.30pm at the Craigmonie Hotel. New diners welcome. Further information from Val Cantlay.CAMERON HOUSE A short Service will be held in Cameron House next Sunday 28 October at 3pm. These Services take place on the fourth Sunday of the month and are conducted by Rev Alastair Younger). Members of Old High St Stephen’s who would like to come to help with singing would be welcome. Alastair Younger.OLD HIGH CHURCH OPENING During the month of October the Church will be open at the following times: Thursdays 10.00-12.00; Fridays 10.00-12.00 and 2-4pm. New Volunteers are always welcome: contact Sheila MacLeod.HOLY COMMUNION will be celebrated at the Old High on Sunday 28 October. All welcome at the Lord’s Table.OLD HIGH MUSIC Saturday 3 November at 12 noon. Katy Bell studied Cello in London and the US and is now a freelance orchestral and chamber musician based in Inverness. Alice Durrant studied Double Bass in London and Sydney and now plays with the BBC Philharmonic in Manchester. This is a special opportunity to hear these instruments as a Duo, performed by friends who have known each other since early childhood. Details from Andrew Stevenson.BLYTHSWOOD BOXES This is the 25th year of the Blythswood Shoe Box Appeal. Why not bring some happiness to someone in need this Christmas? Fill a shoe box with simple gifts and it will bring untold joy to someone who never gets a present. Leaflets are available, with all the necessary instructions at the Church door. Bring your box back to St Stephen’s or deliver it to Blythswood Care. Further information from Jaye Rankine.CROSSREACH Prayer diary October 2018 to January 2019, Newsletter, and Christmas catalogue now available at church doors. Rae Swan.OHSS MAGAZINE Willie Morrison urgently requires articles and photos for the December issue. Please submit whatever you can, as early as possible. The deadline– earlier than usual for Christmas season reasons- is Friday 30 November. Contact Willie Morrison.SUNDAY BULLETIN Please send items for this sheet to our Church Administrator: Mrs Pat MacLeod (079 342 85924) invernesschurch<at>gmail.com. Deadline Wednesday at 12 noon. Please keep items as brief as possible, and include contact details and/or e-mail.FRIENDS OF THE OLD HIGH CHURCH. The Annual General Meeting will be held in the Old High Church Hall on Monday 22 October at 7pm (enter by School Lane). Christina Cameron.OTHER NEWSTHE 2019 NATIONAL WEEKEND OF INVITATION is a call to mobilise the largest number of churches in Scotland to develop a culture of invitation. Michael Harvey, co-founder of Back to Church Sunday, will be at Inshes Church Inverness on Tuesday 23 October from 7pm to 9.30pm with his roadshow looking at ways to equip the Church with confidence in mission and evangelism and to encourage church leaders, elders and members. The meeting is free of charge, however registration is required. Contact Robbie.Morrison<at>churchofscotland.org.ukAT THE HEART. ON THE EDGE at Ness Bank Church on Tuesday 13 November 10 am to 3.30 pm. Hosted by Rev Fiona Smith, Minister of Ness Bank Parish Church, and Rev Dr Sam Wells, Vicar of St Martin-in-the- Fields. Programme has been developed jointly by Ness Bank Church and St Martin’s. HeartEdge is a growing ecumenical network of churches and other organisations working across the UK and overseas, initiated by St Martin-in-the-Fields. It aims to catalyse Kingdom Communities, both for those working at the heart of commerce, culture and community, and those on the edge. Topics for the day include: liturgy and worship for day-to-day communal life; starting and sustaining distinctive enterprise to generate finance for your church; addressing social need locally; using art, music and performance to reimagine the Christian story. More at https://www.stmartin-in-the-fields.org/life-st-martins/mission/heartedge/. Please register to attend at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/at-the-heart-on-the-edge-tickets-48122091471?aff=eac2, or contact our Minister, Peter.INVERNESS 18-30’s invites you to our First Birthday Reception on 27 October 27. This will be held in the Hub, Castle Street, IV2 3EA, between 5pm – 6pm and is open to anyone. Afterwards those between 18 and 30 are invited to join us trampolining at Infinity. If you would like to find out more about this group for young Christians, or to come trampolining with us, please contact us at: inverness1830s<at>gmail.com
]]>http://www.oldhighststephens.com/2018/10/23/sunday-bulletin-21-october-2018/feed/06560What must we do? Sermon for Sunday 14 October Proper 23http://www.oldhighststephens.com/2018/10/15/what-must-we-do-sermon-sunday-14-october-proper-23/
http://www.oldhighststephens.com/2018/10/15/what-must-we-do-sermon-sunday-14-october-proper-23/#respondMon, 15 Oct 2018 21:03:17 +0000http://www.oldhighststephens.com/?p=6548Our text from the Letter to the Hebrews today begins with a vivid image:

The word of God is alive and active, sharper than any double-edged sword. It cuts all the way through, to where soul and spirit meet, to where joints and marrow come together.

A sharp sword was the deadliest weapon of ancient times- the Kalashnikov of the Roman era. So this image is like something from a very bloody battle- or a very graphic horror film. A sword that cuts through flesh, joints and marrow is an unsettling thought. And it is used to describe the word of God.

‘The Word of God’ is a phrase which trips lightly off a churchgoer’s tongue. We hear a lot about ‘The Word of God’ in church- just look at our Order of Service. ‘The Word of God’ is the central part of our service- the bit with the Bible readings and the sermon. The latter part of the service is about our ‘Response to the Word of God’. As we read the Bible readings, we are trying to listen for ‘The Word of God’. This sermon, like all preaching, is attempting to bring ‘The Word of God’ home to you.

At the start of the Bible, the Book of Genesis’s story about the origin of the universe, we are told that God speaks, and the world comes into being: the Word of God is a creative word. The prophets of the Old Testament often said to the people: ‘Thus says the Lord’: the Word is a prophetic word. Jesus says his message about the Kingdom is like a farmer sowing seed- a message which might land on good ground, or on rocky ground: the Word of God is fruitful word when people respond to it. John’s Gospel tell us that in Christ, ‘The Word became flesh, and lived among us’: the Word is embodied in the human, Jesus Christ. For our God is a God who speaks: ‘The word of God is alive and active’ in our world, in the Church, in individual lives.

And God’s word cuts through us, through flesh and muscle and bone, exposing what we would rather keep hidden. Quite often, people thought they saw in Jesus someone who seemed to have deep insight into people. He seemed to understand the hidden motives which shape our lives in ways we hardly recognise. And so his words often cut through to what was really going on in a conversation.

Today’s Gospel reading features a man into whose soul the word of God will cut into, like a sharp edged sword. Matthew’s Gospel says he was a young man; certainly he was well off. This rich young man comes to Jesus with a question, the question which many people wanted to ask Jesus:

“Good Teacher, what must I do to receive eternal life?”

And as was often his way, Jesus does not answer his question, but, instead, asks him a question in return:

“Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked him. “No one is good except God alone.

It’s as if Jesus has taken offence at being called ‘Good Teacher’. Does he think the young man is trying to flatter him? And then he asks another, implied, question: ‘Don’t you already know the commandments?’ ‘Oh yes’, says the rich young man, ‘I’ve always done all that stuff’.

And then, Luke the Gospel writer tell us that ‘Jesus looked straight at him with love’ and said words which were excruciating for the rich young man to hear: ‘you only need to do one more thing: sell all your property and give the money to the poor; that way you’ll have riches in heaven. Then come and follow me’.

And that is too much for the young man:

When the man heard this, gloom spread over his face, and he went away sad, because he was very rich.

We all enjoy the stories about the people who follow Jesus. Peter, James and John leaving their fishing nets, Zacchaeus being called out of his tree, Matthew being called away from his tax booth. This could have been one of those stories, with a happy ending. But there is no happy ending to this story.

This rich young man was, we can assume, a child of privilege. Ancient Palestine was not a land of golden opportunity, where you could pull yourself up by your bootstraps if you worked hard enough. For most people, life was simply a struggle to scratch a living off the land, as farmers, shepherds, or fishermen. By the time you’d paid the rent to the landowner, the tax to the Romans, and the tithes to the priests, you would barely scrape a living. There were no internet entrepreneurs who started their business in their bedroom. It was a hierarchical society, where a few were very wealthy: landowners, and a few others with good connections, living off the labour of the mass of people. We may assume that the very rich young man in today’s Gospel had inherited his wealth.

It’s not that Jesus hates this young man: Jesus looked at him with love, even if his words were to disappoint him. Jesus is speaking out of love for this rich young man when he tells him that he must give up all he owns for the sake of the poor.

And as he goes away, Jesus makes that remark to the disciples who have decided to stay with him; a remark which, we are told, shocked them:

“How hard it will be for rich people to enter the Kingdom of God!… It is much harder for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle.”

For some Christians, the answer to the question, ‘what must I do to receive eternal life?’ is very simple. All you have to do, they say, is to follow Jesus, take him into your heart, call him your ‘Lord and Saviour’. Which is all true, up to a point. But this Gospel story does not point to any such easy formula. The rich young man wants to follow Jesus, wants to find eternal life- but he can’t.

It’s quite clear that Jesus followed in the footsteps of the Old Testament prophets; like them, he speaks the word of God. And often, when the prophets said, ‘Thus says the Lord’ the word they spoke was a word of judgement.

For example, the prophet Amos preached that Israel was under the judgement of God for sinning by ignoring the commandments of God. And he names the sins: poor people sold into slavery, or even having the clothes taken off their backs, because they cannot pay unfair debts[1]; judges bribed to ensure the law favoured the wealthy[2]; wealthy merchants used false measures and cheated their customers[3]. Oppressing the poor was seen by the prophets as being as wicked as worshipping other gods or sexual immorality.

And in the tradition of the prophets, the word of God which Jesus speaks tell us that wealth is at odds with the Kingdom. Christ often speaks of how earthly treasure is no good; only treasure in heaven is eternal, so you may as well sit lightly with earthly treasure[4]. ‘Where your heart is will always be where your riches are’- so set your heart on Kingdom, on riches in heaven.

It’s not just that the rich young man made an idol out of his riches. For Jesus could have said to him, ‘Oh yes, do come and follow me; but try not to think about your wealth too much’. No- Jesus tells him to sell all he has and give it to the poor. It is not enough for the rich man to put God first and his wealth second. He has to get rid of his wealth entirely. He’s to give it away to the poor- those who are in need, because he has too much.

Perhaps the rich young man couldn’t imagine life without his wealth. But his real stumbling block is that he can’t see himself giving it away to the poor. He is living in a time where the only way those on the breadline can survive is if people are generous to them- for there is no social security, no pensions, no sickness benefit. And so it is not enough for the rich young man to say he wants to follow Christ. A theoretical commitment to following Christ won’t do. He must follow through by committing himself to the cause of the poor.

We all know that we are supposed to love our neighbour. But when Jesus wants to tell us what that involves, he tells us the parable of the Good Samaritan, The priest and the Levite theoretically believe in God, but they pass by the man who was robbed, on the other side of the road. But the Samaritan sees the need, and goes out of his way, spends time and money, looking after the victim who’s in need. The Samaritan is the one who understands what the Word of God requires of him.

If we say we are people who live by the Word of God, then we cannot, even tacitly, be silent about or ignore the things which keep people in poverty. I’ve a feeling that, until he met Jesus, the rich young man had never quite made the connection that his wealth was the result of an economic system that kept other people in poverty. What paid for his lifestyle was the sweat and tears of people such as the farm labourers or the fishermen we hear about in the Gospel stories. He had ignored the sufferings of the oppressed; so it would be quite hypocritical of him to seek eternal life. Christ tells him that what he really needs to do is to give it all away: and his words cut him to the bone.

This story has worried some people so much that they have tried to get around it. For example: you may have heard it said that there was an arch in Jerusalem called ‘The Eye of the Needle’ which was big enough for camels to get through[5]. Well, I’m afraid there was no such thing. Jesus meant what he said about the rich, the Kingdom, camels and needles.

God’s mercy is, of course, wider and more generous than we can possibly conceive of. For God, all things are possible, says Jesus. And the Letter to the Hebrews tells us that, in Christ, we can ‘receive mercy and find grace to help us just when we need it’. Because, in Jesus Christ, God has been immensely generous to us. Despite our hypocrisy, our selfishness, God offers us his grace and mercy.

And that’s why greed is incompatible with the Kingdom. Christ is trying to tell us that God is generous, that God’s care is abundant. But too often, the world praises not generosity, but greed. There are people who could not imagine why they would want to be generous to those in need. They make up all kinds of reasons stories about the poor- claiming that the poor are lazy and feckless. Too many people tell themselves that they really have no responsibility for the oppressed and needy. But the Word of God cuts through the marrow to the bone, and lays bare their hypocrisy.

The very rich young man could not see his way to living generously. Yet unless we are willing to be generous, unless we are willing to put ourselves out for those in need, unless we are willing to challenge social structures and economic policies which are not generous to people in real need, we cannot really claim to be true citizens of the Kingdom.

With us, or without us, however, the Kingdom is coming. God’s generosity is not hindered by our greed and selfishness. For the Word of God, embodied in Jesus Christ, is good news to the poor, liberty to the captives, sight to the blind, freedom to the oppressed[6]. The Kingdom is among us: we just have to choose whether we will be part of it. For we are all invited to join in, and to do so with generosity and joy!

Ascription of Praise

The God of grace who calls you all
to his eternal glory in Christ
restore, establish and strengthen you.
All power belongs to God for ever and ever, Amen.